Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-10-05
Misetelameolts &eaaing.
SOME EARLY AMERICAN PIRATES.

Misesdanfoas &eading.
SOME EARLY AMERICAN PIRATES.
First of all upon the list of pirates
stands the bold Capt. Avary, one of
the institutions of Narrowing. Him
we see but dimly half hidden by the
glamouring mists of legend and ira
dition. Others who came afterward
outstripped him far enough in their
doings, but he stands pre-eminent as
the first CT the marOoners of whom
actual history has been handed down
to US of the present day.
When the English, Dutch and
Spanish entered into an alliance to
suppress buccaneering in the West
Indies, certain worthless of Bristol,
in Old England, fitted out two ves-
sells to assist in the laudable project,
for doubtless Bristol trade suffered
smartly from the Morgans and the
L'Olonoises of that old time, says
Howard Pyle in the September Hdr-
per. One of these vessels was named
Duke, of which a certain Capt. Glib
son was the ommanderg and Avary
the mate.
Away they sailed to the West In
dies, and there Avary became i'm
pressed by the advantages offered by
piracy, and by the amount Of good
things that were to be gained by
very little striving.
One night the captain (WhO was
one of those fellows nightly addict
ed to punch) instead of going ashore
to saturate himself with rum at the
ordinary, had to drink in his cabin
in private. While he lay snoring
away the effects of his rum in the
cabin, Avary and few other con-
spirators heaved the anchor very
leisureIy and sailed out of the harbor
of Corunna and through the midst
of the allied fleet riding at anchor in
the darkness.
By-and-by, when the morning
came, the captain was awakened by
the pitching and tossing of the ves-
sci, the rattle and clatter of the tack
le overhead, and the noise of foot
steps passing and repassing hither
and thither across the deck.
"What's the matter?" bawls the
captain from his berth.
"Nothing," says Avary, coolly.
"Something's the matter with the
ship" says the captain. "Does she
drive? What weather is it?"
"Oh, no." says Avary 1--WE are at
sea-"
"At sea-"
"Come, GOMEZ" says Avary; "I'll
tell you; you must know that Pm
the Captain of the shipnow, and you
must be packing from this here cabin.
We are bound to Madagascar, to
make all our fortunes, and if you're
a mind to ship for the cruise, why,
we'll he glad to have you, if you
will be sober and mind your own
business !; if not, thereis a boat along
side and III have you set ashore"
The poor half-tipsy captain had no
relish to 20 a-pirating under the COM
mand of this backsliding mate, so
out of the ship he bundled, and away
he rowed with four or five of the
crew, who, like him, refused to join
with their jolly shipmates.
The rest of them sailed away to
the East Indies. On his way Avary
picked up a couple of like kind with
himself-two sloops off Madagascar.
With these he sailed away to the
coast of India, and for a time his
name was lost in the obscurity of un-
certain history. But only for a time,
for suddenly it famed out in blaze
of glory.
It was reported that o vessel be-
longing to the great mogul, laden
with treasure and bringing the mon
arch's own daughter upon o holy
pilgrimage to Mecca (they belonged
to the Mohammedans), had fallen in
with the pirates and after short re-
sistance had been surrendered, with
the damsel, her court and all the
diamonds, pearls, silks, silver and
gold aboard. 1t was rumored that
the great mogul, raging at the insult
offered to him through his own flesh
and blood, had threatened to wipe
out of existence the few English set
Elements scattered along the coast,
whereat the honorable East India
Company was in pretty state OF
fuss and feathers. Rumor, growing
with the telling, has it that Avary
is going to marry the Indian princess,
willy-nilly, and will turn rajah and
eschew piracy as indecent. AS for
the treasure itself, there was no end
to the extent to which it grew as it
passed from mouth to mouth.
Cracking the nut of romance and
eXaggeratiQn, we come to the kernel
of the story-that Avary did fall in
with an Indian vessel laden with
great treasure and possibly, with the
mogul's daughter, which he captured
and thereby gained vast prize.
Having concluded that he had
earned enough money by the trade
he had undertaken, he determined
to retire and live decently the rest
of his life upon what he already had.
AS a step toward this object, he set
about cheating his Madagascar part.
ners out of their share of what had
been gained. Hepersuaded them to
store all the treasure in his vessel, it
being the largest of the three; and
so having it safely in hand, he alter
ed the course of his ship one fine
night, and when the morning came
the Madagascar sloops found them
selves floating upon a wide ocean
without farthing of the treasure for
which they fought so hard, and for
which they might whistle for all the
good it would do them.
At first Avary had a great part OF
a mind to settle at Boston, in Massa'
chusetts, and had that little town
been one whit less bleak and forbid
ding, it might have had the honor Of
being the home of this famous man
AS it was, he did not like the looks
of it, so he sailed away to the east:
ward, to Ireland, where he settled
himself at Biddeford, in hopes of ar
easy life of it for the rest of his days
Here he found himselfthe possessol
of a plentiful stock of jewels, such as
pearls, diamonds, rubies, etc., but
with hardly score of honest farth'
ings to jingle in his pocket. He
consulted with a certain merchant